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arXiv:1604.03378 · New Journal of Physics

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics of harmonically trapped bosons

Miguel Ángel García-March, Thomás Fogarty, Steve Campbell, Thomas Busch, Mauro Paternostro

Published Oct 21, 2016• 42 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We apply the framework of non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics to the physics of quenched small-sized bosonic quantum gases in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. We show that dynamical orthogonality can occur in these few-body systems with strong interactions after a quench and we find its occurrence analytically for an infinitely repulsive pair of atoms. We further show this phenomena is related to the fundamental excitations that dictate the dynamics from the spectral function. We establish a clear qualitative link between the amount of (irreversible) work performed on the system and the establishment of entanglement. We extend our analysis to multipartite systems by examining the case of three trapped atoms. We show the initial (pre-quench) interactions play a vital role in determining the dynamical features, while the qualitative features of the two particle case appear to remain valid. Finally, we propose the use of the atomic density profile as a readily accessible indicator of the non-equilibrium properties of the systems in question.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/18/10/103035

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We consider the quantum evolution of a pair of interacting atoms in a three-dimensional isotropic trap where the interaction strength is quenched from one value to another. Using exact solutions of the static problem we are able to evaluate time-dependent observables such as the overlap between initial and final states and the expectation value of the separation between the two atoms. In the case where the interaction is quenched from the noninteracting regime to the strongly interacting regime, or vice versa, we are able to obtain analytic results. Examining the overlap between the initial and final states we show that when the interaction is quenched from the noninteracting to strongly interacting regimes the early time dependence dynamics are consistent with theoretical work in the single impurity many-body limit. When the system is quenched from the strongly to noninteracting regime we predict large oscillations in the separation between the two atoms, which arises from a logarithmic divergence due to the zero-range nature of the interaction potential.
We investigate the non-equilibrium quantum dynamics and thermodynamics of free fermions suddenly coupled to a localized defect in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. This setup realizes a quantum quench transformation that gives rise to the orthogonalization of the system's wave-function as an effect of the localized perturbation. Using the Loschmidt echo and the Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability (KDQ) distribution of the work done by the defect, we quantify the extent and rate of the orthogonalization dynamics. In particular, we show that initializing the system in a coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates leads to non-classical features, such as Wigner function's negativity and non-positivity of the work KDQ distribution. Starting from simple single-particle superpositions and then progressing with coherent and cat states of few-body fermionic systems, we uncover how quantum coherence and few-body correlations shape the out-of-equilibrium response due to the presence of the defect.